Megaupload Gets Shut Down

During all of the SOPA/PIPA ruckus, prosecutors for the Department of Justice have been finalizing their plans to axe  one of the most frequented file sharing websites online – Megaupload.com. In addition to shutting down the website, the DoJ has indicted multiple individuals associated with the company. The Indictment claims that Megaupload.com and it’s associated websites have made a vast amount of their profits from facilitating the exchange of copyrighted content through premium user accounts. These premium accounts allow users to upload and download content at very high speeds. While this alone would be a weak argument for an indictment, the DoJ asserts that this group, dubbed “Mega Conspiracy,” has created other sites exclusively to index and promote the download of illegal content. Doing this allows users to search Megaupload for copyrighted content. Additionally, the FBI has documented many bank transfers as well as other details to support their argument that “Mega Conspiracy” did, in fact, intend to facilitate copyright infringement.

As of 1:30 PM today, both Megaupload.com AND http://www.justice.gov/ are offline without a posted statement or redirect. The Wall St. Journal has a copy of the indictment online.

Here is what the web is saying about the Megaupload fiasco: